Pryde in Atlantis
by Dan Strig
Summary: A surprise in Beast's lab sends Kitty Pryde to an alternate reality, causing her to wind up on Atlantis. With a host of new challenges for her to deal with, including the Wraith, how is she supposed to adjust to life in the Pegasus? And, perhaps more importantly, how will she get home? [Comic timeline would be just after AvX wrapped up, SGA timeline would be mid season 5]
1. Chapter 1

**OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION!**

The all too familiar warning rang throughout the gate room. Richard Woolsey walked quickly to the controls, unease settling in as he wondered just which one of the off-world teams ran into trouble. That always seemed to be the circumstances for unscheduled activations these days.

"Any I.D.C.?" He glanced away from the screen to the man at the controls.

"Negative. The gate is drawing an usual amount of power, but we have such begun receiving an audio transmission." Out of the corner of his eye Woolsey saw Colonel Sheppard step up next to him.

"Play it." Richard Woolsey thought he had seen just about everything since taking over command of the Atlantis expedition, there were still surprises but few things managed to rock him. This transmission however was unlike anything else, and had John Sheppard known the older man's thoughts, he'd have voiced his agreement.

_A nervous female voice rang out clearly, worry coloring her words. "Hank, what is that?" _

_"It seems to be a stable wormhole but that's not possible, no machine in here is designed to create something like that." The voice that responded to the girl was definitely male, and full of the same frustration tinged excitement the Atlantis crew was used to hearing from their own Rodney McKay._

_"Get away from it, Pryde." This voice was different, gruff and deep, full of anger but also almost sounded wary._

"It's like we're listening in on a conversation, not a transmission." Sheppard started but paused when it sounded like the female in the transmission was letting out a screech of fear.

"Something is travelling through the wormhole, sir." The man at the controls glanced up at Sheppard and Woolsey, waiting for his order.

"Keep the shield raised, we don't know who they are or what is coming through." Woolsey's voice was firm. Sheppard hesitated but nodded in agreement. For all they knew this was a trap and lowering the shield would put everyone at risk. Ronon and Teyla stood near the gate, looking at it warily, as did several marines with their guns trained on it as was the protocol. They expected the familiar smash noise as whatever was barreling through the wormhole made contact with the Ancient shield. When a small brown haired woman in a black and yellow uniform came through the shield around the gate like it wasn't even there it took everyone a minute to recover from the shock before the gate room echoed with sound of guns cocking.

Kitty Pryde glanced around the unfamiliar room in surprise. It wasn't just the small army of men with weapons trained on her that had her confused, it was the location itself. A moment ago she had been in Hank's lab in the school basement. That portal had fallen on her, and now she was here. No warning, no explanation, just a slight uncomfortable feeling between the two moments. She had majored in Astrophysics, she knew how wormholes worked, but this was outside the realm of anything other than theoretical work. Not to mention she had phased when the portal fell on her, she shouldn't have gone through it at all. But now was not the time to focus on that. She allowed herself another glance around the room.

"Uh, hi? Anyone want to tell me where I am and how exactly I got here?" She kept herself ready to phase, just in case any of the marines in front of her decided to fire. Hank was so going to get an earful when she got back.

"We were hoping you could tell us that." Sheppard stepped forward carefully, lowering his gun but not giving the order for his men to follow suit. "I'm Colonel John Sheppard." Both Kitty and Sheppard noticed Ronon step quietly, blocking the only open exit.

"Katherine Pryde, but I prefer Kitty." She smiled in an attempt at diffusing the tension.

"Alright, Kitty, where did you dial from and how did you get this address?" Sheppard took another step toward her and she circumspectly took one back.

"Dial? Look all I know is one minute I was in Hank's lab going over new programs and then suddenly this metal circle appeared out of nowhere, powered up and created what our readings determined to be a stable wormhole, then it fell on me and I popped out here. Which is incredible, everything we know about wormholes is purely theoretical, whatever just happened will rock the scientific community. I don't understand why I didn't go right through it." Kitty babbled slightly, her voice dropping to nearly a whisper on the last sentence, but Sheppard still caught it. Kitty was so focused on how she got here that she missed Ronon quietly circling around behind her, getting ready to grab her.

"That's the problem, you went right through our shield. You're telling me you don't know how?" Sheppard's eyes narrowed. Something about her story wasn't adding up and they hadn't yet determined her not to be a threat.

"Look I'm telling you all I know, promise." She started to put her hands up to reinforce the fact that she was being honest and was not a threat when she felt Ronon lunge at her from behind. She spun, grabbing his arm and flipping him onto his back effortlessly. "Rude much? I wouldn't attack you if your back was turned."

She smiled at him, but he growled in response, jumping to his feat. He moved towards her again. He was fast but avoiding hits was always her best skill, those years of martial arts training letting her sidestep his movements easily. Ronon paused, trying to gauge the small girl in front of him. When she started talking about the gate the way Rodney usually did Ronon had figured her for a scientist, a civilian. He hadn't expected those kinds of movements. He pulled out his gun, meaning to stun her and she took a step back, raising both hands in surrender.

"Both of you stop." Sheppard's voice cut into their dance. "Kitty we're going to have to detain you, figure out how you got through our defenses. This is a civilian and military operation and the safety of this base comes first."

"Look I get that and I appreciate it, really I do. But I'd just like to get back, I've got a school full of students that I'm supposed to be running. You don't want to keep me around here anyhow. Mister tall, dark, and grumpy over there can't wait to get rid of me I bet." She gestured in Ronon's direction and gave a nervous smile. Right now she had no idea who these people were and what their intentions and motivations happened to be. Her safest course of action was to keep her little ability under wraps, she might need the element of surprise that it gave her.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm sure your life is _very _important but right now the focus is how something like you could best the Ancients' defenses." The voice of Rodney McKay rang out as he hurried down the steps of the gate room towards the girl. Her eyes narrowed at his tone and she crossed her arms.

"Excuse me? I have been nothing but polite, with the exception of flipping the hunky one onto his back, so I definitely do not appreciate the condescending tone." Ronon grumbled slightly, still sore about not getting the jump on her and Sheppard glanced between Kitty and Rodney, who seemed to have balked at her words.

"Look, Ms. Pryde, we're just gonna bring you someplace we can talk. One of our scientists will run a diagnostic on the stuff up here to make sure it wasn't a glitch on our end while I talk to a little more about what happened before you went through the gate." Sheppard smiled at her and she nodded with a sigh.

"Yeah if I was in your position I guess I'd be pretty freaked out thinking that there was a glaring error in the defenses. Alright colonel, I'm game." Much to John's surprise, she links her arm through his. "Lead the way."


	2. Chapter 2

They had kept her in this damn room for hours. Asked her every question they could think of. She didn't like lying, hated it in fact. Not admitting she was a mutant felt like denying part of herself. But this was tactical. It'd been a long time since she'd had to hide her mutant identity. She had answered the questions as honestly as possible. Told them all about the school, about Hank's lab, about the minutes leading up to her arrival here. All she left out was the mutant aspect and the superhero related activities. As far as any of them could tell, she had managed to find herself not only in a different galaxy, but a whole different reality. It sounded like superheroes didn't even exist in the reality in which the Atlantis crew called home. Which meant getting home was going to be a lot harder than catching a ship back to Earth. Kitty let her head fall onto the table with a loud thump.

"I just want to go home guys. I promise I'm not here to disrupt whatever clearly classified operation is going on." The words came out as a groan, not that anyone beside the guard they posted in the room was around. The others were somewhere else, debating what to do with her she supposed. The door swung open and she raised her head hopefully.

"We have protocols to follow, colonel. She should be in the brig." Richard Woolsey's voice was firm as he followed.

"Don't you think that's a little severe? She hardly seems like a threat." Kitty smiled at Sheppard, grateful for his defense of her, but she wanted them to relax and following their protocol seemed like the best solution.

"Actually Colonel Sheppard, I just want to go home and if locking me up like you're supposed to gets me any closer to returning to my own reality then I am totally for following your protocol." Not like any cell could hold her anyway.

"You're going to willingly be locked up." She hadn't even heard Ronon walk in, but there he was, his gaze fixed on her, assessing.

"Why not? You've had me in this room for hours and you've not tried to kill me yet. Plus we're not gonna get anywhere if someone doesn't volunteer to do the first trust fall."

"Trust fall?" His head cocked ever so slightly to the side as he repeated her words, like he was getting a feel for them.

"You know, that weird team strengthening exercise where one person falls back on the other?" He gave her a blank stare. "You never had to do that? Man was your grade school experience different than most."

"I'm not from Earth." That made her pause. Not from Earth. She'd met a lot of aliens and very few looked as human as the man towering near the door.

"Really? I'd have said you were Samoan." Sheppard let out huff of laughter before gesturing her to follow him.

"Come on, if we're really locking you up," He shot Woolsey a look conveying just how unamused he was with this course of action. "Then we might as well get it over with."

Kitty stood, following John Sheppard through the halls of Atlantis, Ronon at her back, his hand never far from his holster. This city was incredible. She could hardly believe a place like this existed in any reality. She made a mental note to ask Abigail Brand about Atlantis once home, just in case it existed in her reality. Not that the S.W.O.R.D. head would give her any information, but her reaction might hint if it was worth hacking systems to learn more about. She never could keep her nose out of those pesky classified files.

The brig was even more daunting than she expected. A literal cage in the middle of a room, nothing in it to even sit on. She sucked in a breath. Yes she believed acts of good faith would be the quickest way to make friends but this was a lot more sparse than she anticipated. Sheppard glanced at the younger girl, sensing her apprehension.

"We'll bring you a bench. You won't need a bed because I don't anticipate keeping you in here that long, promise. Just uh, I don't recommend touching the walls." He put his hand on her shoulder and she turned to smile up at him. Not her most convincing smile, but it was the best she could muster given the circumstances.

"It'll be fine. Won't even be the worst place I've slept."

And it was fine. For a while. In the beginning Sheppard hung around, keeping her company, outside the cage of course. They talked about movies and music, trying to discover what pop culture was the same across their realities. When he was called away Ronon took his place, though she couldn't tell if Woolsey had sent him to be an intimidating guard or if Sheppard had sent him to scare off anyone Woolsey sent to do that. He did surprise her by being more talkative than she anticipated. Though that simply meant he talked at all. His one question was about the X-Men uniform she was currently donning. Telling him she was a superhero was out so she simply said it was something she wore when practicing martial arts. He wasn't from Earth, he wouldn't know the difference unless he asked someone else and somehow that seemed unlikely.

But eventually she was left alone, after a cot was sent down to make her more comfortable for the night. One solitary guard posted outside the door to the brig, not even in the room with her. She supposed it was because she was a low threat in their minds. She was sitting on the bed, contemplating what was going to happen in the next few days when it happened. A very audible grumble from her stomach pierced the silence of the room. It had been a mistake to refuse food when Sheppard offered. She hadn't been hungry then, but she certainly was now. Kitty stood, glancing at the door, but the guard outside didn't even notice. Couldn't hear her if she called. How dumb was it to post the guard outside the room, if she was dying he'd never know. She let out a frustrated sigh and looked around. No meal tonight it seemed.

Or maybe not. She could phase. She'd seen the cafeteria as they walked her down here, and she could definitely get back there. She'd phase out of here, take wall shortcuts to the cafeteria, grab food and be back before anyone knew she left. Sure she was supposed to stay in here as a show of good will, but if she didn't eat she'd be snippy and rude when they came back to talk to her a more. She glanced around the cage and the room around it one more time before making her decision. She was hungry.

Ronon was walking back to his quarters after a late night sparring session when something caught his eye. The tip of a brown ponytail and a flash of black and yellow rounding a corner. The girl was supposed to be in the brig. He quietly quickened his pace, rounding the corner only moments later but she wasn't there. He blinked. She would have had to be sprinting far faster than anyone on base could run to get out of the corridor before he could see her. So he paused. He didn't like not trusting his eyes, but perhaps he had in fact imagined it. He slowly turned and headed the opposite direction, continuing to his quarters. Everyone had the strange girl on their mind since her arrival, but the thought that that was causing Ronon to make believe he saw her in the halls was unsettling. He turned into the hall where the door to his room was when he saw her again. Just a sliver of her but the yellow and black pattern was unmistakably Kitty. It wasn't possible, to get there she'd have had to pass him. He knew all routes to his quarters. So how was she there? He broke out into a full run towards the end of the hall but when he rounded the corner there was no trace of her, just as before. He growled, hitting his radio, glad he had it on him.

"Ronon to the brig, is she still locked up?" There was a moment of silence before a tired response came through his earpiece.

"She's sitting right there on the cot." The marine's reply only made Ronon more confused. He was sure of what he had seen.

"I'm going to talk to her." He turned the radio off, stalking towards the nearest transporter.

When he reached the brig it was just as the marine on guard had said. Kitty was sitting on her cot, swinging her legs and humming. Although both those things stopped abruptly when he growled.

Kitty knew she had been seen in the hallway. She'd been on her way back from eating her fill when it sounded like someone was running to catch up with her. So she did the only thing she could do, hightailed it back to the brig. Just in time for the marine on guard to check on her and radio that she was still there. She knew it'd only be a matter of minutes before whoever it was that saw her came to check themselves. What she didn't expect, however, was for that person to be Ronon. He growled the moment he walked into the room and she nearly rolled her eyes. She found the only person across two realities who liked to growl as much as Logan. How lucky for her.

"Keeping busy?" His voice was rough, on that edge of being antagonizing, but still restrained. Barely.

"With what? Starring at the wall? Trying not to fry myself on the edges of the cage? It's clearly a bundle of fun in here." She smiled slightly, trying to soften how harsh her sarcastic response sounded. Ronon gave her a look and took a seat in the chair just outside the cage. It was impressive how he could make sitting down even look intimidating.

"How come you allowed yourself to be locked up?" His expression changed to one of careful studying. He was waiting for her to slip up.

"Like I said before. It's a show of good faith. I let you guys lock me up per your protocol, you quickly realize I'm not a threat, you help me find a way home. I've got a school that needs me and people who are probably worried about me back home."

"Someone you are bound to?" Kitty gave him a confused look as she processed what he said.

"Bound? Oh! No. I'm single." She let out a slightly bitter laugh. "My love life leaves a lot to be desired. By people who care about me I mean friends. Friends so close they've become family." He nods, just once.

"I understand."

"I suppose you do. Now imagine if you disappeared right before your team's eyes. Would they do stupid and risky things to find you? To get you home? I bet they would. Mine would. Which is exactly what I'm worried about. I don't want them killing themselves to find me." She started swinging her legs again, trying desperately not to think of the ridiculous experiments Hank would probably attempt to recreate the circumstances of her disappearance, knowing Logan would give him the go-ahead. He wanted to ask her about seeing her in the hall. She knew he did. So why hadn't he? He didn't seem the kind to beat around the bush, but she certainly couldn't act like she was waiting for it because that'd confirm what he saw. That was it. He was playing a mind game. Clever.

"So, tell me about these Wraith things." A topic change to get him to be the one talking more could help her. She watched him stiffen slightly at the new topic and her curiosity grew.

"They are monsters in this galaxy. Feed on people. Cull whole worlds of people."

"Wow. And I thought my reality had it's bad guys." He grunted.

"If your world is like Sheppard's, you are lucky." She didn't comment. Didn't think of the destruction she'd witnessed, the horrors she had witnessed at far too young an age. Her own species being nearly wiped to extinction because of those who feared and hated them. Wraith-free though it was, her world didn't seem all that wonderful.

"The Wraith definitely sound like bad news bears." An uncomfortable silence blanketed them for a moment.

"How did you take me down, in the gate room?" His question made her smile immediately.

"Pretty handy right?" She stopped. How to explain her martial arts training without mention Ogun. Pretending her life hadn't been full of mutants and super heroics was turning out to be harder than anticipated. "I was trained in various martial arts from a fairly young age. I got quite proficient. When you're an American girl on the small side people don't expect that. It's not hard to take people by surprise in a fight as a result." He noticed her hesitation but he didn't press, just nodded. The door to the brig opened and a tired Sheppard walked in, stopping in momentary surprise at the sight of Ronon.

"Came to tell you we're letting you out of here, but I didn't expect to see you Chewie." Kitty snorted at the nickname while Ronon just shrugged at the other man in response.

"My hero, rescuing me from the scary cage." She laughed playfully and smiled at Sheppard, eagerly awaiting her release.

"What can I say? I'm a nice guy. But you'll be moved to temporary crew quarters 'til we can get you back home. But you will have to go through a medical examination tomorrow, make sure you're not carrying anything." Kitty stopped short but recovered quickly, trying to hide her apprehension. A medical exam with machines as advanced as the ones around her could involve her DNA. It definitely would if she was running the operation. It'd be hard to hide that pesky rare x-gene from the Atlantis crew.

Maybe, if she was lucky, it'd go unnoticed.


End file.
